The present invention relates to a container such as a cartridge for containing a toner which is used as a developer with a dry-process developing unit of an electrostatographic copier or the like.
In a dry-process developing unit, toner supply has customarily been implemented with a disposable toner cartridge which is either box-shaped or cylindrical. The toner cartridge is removably mounted in a predetermined position inside the housing of the developing unit with its opening, or toner outlet, faced downward, so that the toner may drop out of the cartridge by gravity. The problem with such a gravity type toner cartridge is that a part of the toner is left in the cartridge adhered to the inner wall of the cartridge and, therefore, is simply wasted when the cartridge is discarded after use. Another problem is that every time the cartridge is replaced with another, the toner is scattered around to smear various members which surround the developing unit.
To solve the above problems, an agitating device may be disposed in a toner cartridge so that a toner may be entirely fed out of the cartridge, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 53-46040. This kind of scheme, however, results in a disproportionate cost for a disposable cartridge due to the need for an agitating mechanism and a mechanism for driving the agitating mechanism.